A guest blog post from Anik Therrien

About the guest blog writer
My name is Anik Therrien and I have been teaching in Ontario since September 2010. I have had the opportunity to teach at primary level, such as grade one and three for the first few years of my career. I have also had the pleasure teaching at intermediate level, such as grade four. My qualifications allowed me to become a ressource teacher for two years. In this role, I assisted teachers from kindergarten to grade six and provided additional one on one support with innovative teaching practices in literacy and numeracy within their classroom. As a hobby, I like to read and write. In my opinion, there is so much going on around us that it is important to slow down. Immerge yourself in a book or better yet, let your imagination shine through by creating a story yourself! Teaching is my passion. There is no greater gift then to witness little minds at work no matter the workload or responsibilities that I have during the school day. It is such a blessing to be an educator!

Who knew math could be taught in the kitchen?

There is no doubt that this is a stressful time for all parents. Not only are you worried about keeping your children safe, you are also wondering how to go about homeschooling your kids. How do you even begin? How will you keep your little ones interested?

First things first, don’t panic! YOU’VE GOT THIS! What is important to know is the average child’s attention span in regards to learning is calculated by their age plus 2 minutes. For example, if your child is six years old, he or she can most likely absorb information for 8 minutes at a time.

Learning isn’t always about sitting and listening. Have fun with your kids! Start off in the kitchen. You will be surprised to hear that math lessons can take place while cooking. Think about it, when one is cooking or baking, the individual must measure (fractions and quantities such as mg to g), convert temperature from Fahrenheit to Celsius, and work on cooking times based on weight (i.e. : how big the turkey is). One can easily forget that a recipe requires basic math skills (addition, multiplication, doubles, etc).

So go have fun and make a pizza! Ask to preheat the oven, pour 1 cup of tomato sauce on the dough, add double the amount of mushrooms, cut the peppers in quarters and add a third of the pepperoni onto your masterpiece. You will see your child engaged and I promise you, they will ask you to do it again in the future.

Learning is fun…now go enjoy it!

Anik Therrien
Mind Growth Education, Guest Blog Writer

Here are some links that can help you along with your teaching journey :

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